NVIDIA Project DIGITS - Is it for me?

PUBLISHED: 07 Jan 2025

Introducing NVIDIA Project DIGITS: AI Supercomputing on Your Desk

NVIDIA has unveiled a game-changer in the world of AI — Project DIGITS, a personal AI supercomputer that brings the power of the Grace Blackwell platform to your fingertips. This compact powerhouse, powered by the new GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, delivers an astounding petaflop of AI performance, making accessible AI supercomputing a reality for researchers, data scientists, and students worldwide.

Imagine having the ability to develop, prototype, and run inference on large AI models right from your desktop, without the need for expensive and complex infrastructure. Project DIGITS makes this possible by providing a seamless bridge between local development and deployment on accelerated cloud or data center infrastructure. This means you can shape the future of AI from the comfort of your own workspace.

The significance of Project DIGITS cannot be overstated. It democratizes access to AI supercomputing, empowering individuals and small teams to engage in cutting-edge research and development. No longer are petaflop-scale AI capabilities limited to large institutions with vast resources. Project DIGITS levels the playing field, fostering innovation and accelerating the pace of AI advancements across industries.

With its sleek and compact design, Project DIGITS effortlessly integrates into any workspace. It operates efficiently using a standard electrical outlet, making it convenient to set up and use. The system comes preinstalled with the NVIDIA AI software stack, providing a comprehensive toolkit for AI development right out of the box.

Project DIGITS is not just a hardware solution; it is a gateway to a thriving ecosystem of AI software and resources. Users have access to an extensive library of NVIDIA AI software, including SDKs, frameworks, and pre-trained models, through the NVIDIA NGC catalog and the NVIDIA Developer portal. This wealth of resources accelerates the development process and enables users to build upon the work of others in the AI community.

Inside Project DIGITS: The Power of the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip

At the heart of Project DIGITS lies the revolutionary GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that delivers an impressive petaflop of AI performance at FP4 precision. This cutting-edge superchip combines the best of NVIDIA's GPU and CPU technologies, enabling users to run large AI models locally with unprecedented efficiency.

The GB10 Superchip features an NVIDIA Blackwell GPU, equipped with the latest-generation CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores. These powerful cores work in tandem to accelerate AI workloads, providing the computational horsepower needed to tackle complex models and datasets. The GPU is connected via the high-speed NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect to a high-performance NVIDIA Grace CPU, which boasts 20 power-efficient cores built on the Arm architecture.

NVIDIA's collaboration with MediaTek, a market leader in Arm-based SoC designs, has resulted in a superchip that sets new standards for power efficiency, performance, and connectivity. The GB10 Superchip's innovative design allows Project DIGITS to deliver petaflop-scale AI performance while consuming minimal power, making it an eco-friendly choice for AI development.

One of the standout features of Project DIGITS is its generous memory and storage capabilities. Each system comes equipped with 128GB of unified, coherent memory, providing ample space for large datasets and complex models. Additionally, users can take advantage of up to 4TB of NVMe storage, ensuring fast access to data and smooth performance during intensive AI workloads.

The true potential of Project DIGITS shines when it comes to running large language models. With the GB10 Superchip, developers can run models with up to 200 billion parameters, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in natural language processing and generation. Furthermore, by leveraging NVIDIA ConnectX networking, two Project DIGITS AI supercomputers can be linked together, enabling the execution of even larger models with up to 405 billion parameters. This opens up new possibilities for advanced AI applications and research.

Prototype, Test and Deploy AI Models Seamlessly with Project DIGITS

Project DIGITS is more than just a powerful hardware solution; it is a comprehensive platform that streamlines the entire AI development lifecycle. With the Grace Blackwell architecture at its core, Project DIGITS enables users to prototype large AI models, fine-tune them, and test them locally before seamlessly deploying them to the cloud or data center.

The seamless deployment capabilities of Project DIGITS are made possible by the consistent use of the Grace Blackwell architecture and the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform across different environments. Developers can prototype their AI models on Project DIGITS systems running the Linux-based NVIDIA DGX OS, ensuring a smooth transition when scaling up to NVIDIA DGX Cloud, accelerated cloud instances, or data center infrastructure.

This flexibility empowers developers to iterate quickly and efficiently, without the hassle of compatibility issues or the need for extensive modifications when moving from local development to production-scale deployment. Project DIGITS provides a unified platform that bridges the gap between experimentation and real-world implementation, accelerating the time-to-market for AI-powered solutions.

Moreover, Project DIGITS offers a rich ecosystem of NVIDIA AI software and tools to support every stage of the AI development process. Users have access to a vast library of SDKs, orchestration tools, frameworks, and pre-trained models through the NVIDIA NGC catalog and the NVIDIA Developer portal. This extensive collection of resources enables developers to leverage best practices, accelerate their workflows, and build upon the work of the broader AI community.

For fine-tuning models, developers can harness the power of the NVIDIA NeMo framework, which provides a flexible and intuitive interface for training and adapting AI models. Data scientists can accelerate their workflows using the NVIDIA RAPIDS libraries, which offer GPU-accelerated data processing and machine learning capabilities. Project DIGITS also supports popular frameworks such as PyTorch, Python, and Jupyter notebooks, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of AI development tools and practices.

To further empower users in building agentic AI applications, Project DIGITS provides access to NVIDIA Blueprints and NVIDIA NIM microservices through the NVIDIA Developer Program. These resources offer a solid foundation for research, development, and testing, enabling developers to create intelligent and interactive AI systems. When AI applications are ready for production deployment, the NVIDIA AI Enterprise license ensures enterprise-grade security, support, and regular updates to the NVIDIA AI software stack.

Supercharge Your AI Workflows with NVIDIA Software and Frameworks

Project DIGITS is not just a hardware powerhouse; it comes preloaded with the NVIDIA AI software stack, providing developers with a comprehensive toolkit to supercharge their AI workflows. Right out of the box, users have access to an extensive library of NVIDIA AI software, including SDKs, frameworks, and pre-trained models, through the NVIDIA NGC catalog and the NVIDIA Developer portal.

This rich ecosystem of software and resources accelerates the AI development process, enabling users to leverage best practices and build upon the work of the broader AI community. Whether you're fine-tuning models with the NVIDIA NeMo framework, accelerating data science with NVIDIA RAPIDS libraries, or working with popular frameworks like PyTorch, Python, and Jupyter notebooks, Project DIGITS provides a seamless and efficient environment for AI development.

For those venturing into the realm of agentic AI, Project DIGITS offers access to NVIDIA Blueprints and NVIDIA NIM microservices through the NVIDIA Developer Program. These powerful tools provide a solid foundation for researching, developing, and testing intelligent and interactive AI systems. As your AI applications mature and are ready for production deployment, the NVIDIA AI Enterprise license ensures enterprise-grade security, support, and regular updates to keep your AI workflows running smoothly.

With Project DIGITS, you have the freedom to experiment, iterate, and scale your AI projects with confidence. The seamless integration of hardware and software empowers you to push the boundaries of what's possible in AI, whether you're a researcher exploring new frontiers, a data scientist solving complex problems, or a developer building the next generation of intelligent applications.

Project DIGITS Specs, Pricing and Availability

Under the sleek exterior of Project DIGITS lies cutting-edge technology that delivers petaflop-scale AI performance. At the heart of the system is the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, a revolutionary system-on-a-chip that combines NVIDIA's GPU and CPU technologies. With 128GB of unified, coherent memory and up to 4TB of high-speed NVMe storage, Project DIGITS provides ample capacity for large datasets and complex AI models.

The GB10 Superchip's innovative design, featuring the latest-generation CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores, enables Project DIGITS to run large AI models with up to 200 billion parameters locally. And by leveraging NVIDIA ConnectX networking, two Project DIGITS systems can be linked together to tackle even larger models with up to 405 billion parameters. This unprecedented local AI computing power opens up new possibilities for advanced research and development.

Project DIGITS will be available starting May 2025 from NVIDIA and its partners, with prices starting at $3,000. This accessible pricing puts petaflop-scale AI within reach of researchers, data scientists, and students worldwide. Whether you're part of a large institution or an independent innovator, Project DIGITS provides a cost-effective solution for AI supercomputing.

As AI continues to transform industries and shape our future, Project DIGITS offers a powerful and accessible platform for anyone looking to harness the potential of AI. With its combination of hardware prowess, comprehensive software stack, and affordable pricing, Project DIGITS is poised to accelerate AI innovation and adoption across the globe.

Empowering Developers to Shape the Future of AI

Project DIGITS represents a significant milestone in the democratization of AI. By bringing petaflop-scale AI supercomputing to the masses, NVIDIA is empowering developers worldwide to shape the future of AI. No longer limited by access to expensive and complex infrastructure, researchers, data scientists, and students can now engage in cutting-edge AI development from their own workspaces.

The accessibility of Project DIGITS accelerates the pace of AI innovation, enabling individuals and small teams to contribute to the advancement of AI in ways that were previously only possible for large institutions. With the power of the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip at their fingertips, developers can tackle complex AI challenges, explore new frontiers in research, and build groundbreaking applications that have the potential to transform industries and improve lives.

Project DIGITS also fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing within the AI community. By providing a common platform and a rich ecosystem of software and resources, NVIDIA is creating an environment where developers can learn from each other, build upon existing work, and collectively push the boundaries of what's possible with AI.

As AI continues to evolve and permeate every aspect of our lives, the role of developers in shaping its future has never been more crucial. With Project DIGITS, NVIDIA is not only providing the tools and resources necessary for AI innovation but also empowering a new generation of AI pioneers to drive the next wave of breakthroughs.